Once the fog cleared from the greater Port Charlotte area, likely opening day starter Alex Cobb got the opportunity to throw live batting practice, along with Nathan Karns and flame throwers Jose Dominguez and Jhan Martinez among others. Karns, one of the candidates for the number five starter’s job, will get the ball in the spring opener against the Orioles, Thursday.

While getting reps on the mound is important, the pitchers are getting a little tired of throwing live batting practice. According to Marc Topkin, Cobb said without the hitters swinging, there wasn’t much point to it. Manager Kevin Cash understood the frustrations, noting everyone is eager to get to games. Cash talked about the importance of this last round of batting practice with Rays Radio:

Pitching coordinator Dick Bosman worked with the pitchers on the art of holding runners on base, and the Rays squad spent a good amount of time on rundown plays, with an emphasis on making only one throw, and a good one at that.

The Rays will hold two more workouts ahead of Thursday’s game; Tuesday — which won’t start until 10:00 AM due to a pre-scheduled MLB domestic violence awareness meeting — and an abbreviated session Wednesday in advance of the annual charity golf tournament.

Noteworthiness

If you were to ask Nick Franklin who would be the heir apparent at shortstop, his answer would be quick and to the point:

“I’m going to be out there at short. There’s not a doubt in my mind that I’m not.”

In a piece on the utility player acquired last season in the David Price trade, Marc Topkin suggested if the biggest question in unscrambling the Rays’ muddled middle infield situation is indeed whether Nick Franklin can play shortstop, there may be an easy answer.

Franklin’s answer was simple and passionate,

“Absolutely, absolutely. One hundred percent. I’ve grown up playing shortstop. Even at the big-league level, playing short just seems natural to me. I enjoy it. I’m really comfortable there. … It’s been in my blood for a long time.”

Franklin was quick to note that he practiced all off-season on any weaknesses at short, namely his range. Spending part of the winter working with a track coach to increase his rang, Franklin focused on his first and second step.

“I’ve been making pretty good gains on that,” Franklin said, “starting from the bottom of my running form to starts, sideways, you name it.”

As Topkin wrote, with only a brief September look to go by — six starts at second, three at short — Rays bench/infield coach Tom Foley said Franklin appears to have focused on the right issues, mentioning arm strength, range and consistency as the primary points of evaluation.

At the end of the day, the plan is to take almost the whole spring to decide who fits best where — either Franklin as the primary shortstop with Asdrubal Cabrera at second, or vice versa. Should Franklin win the job, he would more than likely still be platooned with the likes of Logan Forsythe and/or Tim Beckham against LHP.

There was some action in camp Monday when middle infield prospect Tim Beckham smashed Drew Smyly’s windshield during batting practice. Beckham was quoted,

“I’m willing and open to do any kind of role this team would need me to fill,” Montgomery said. “There’s going to be adjustments you have to make doing that, but I told them, ‘Hey, I feel good as a starter and I feel like I could transition to a bullpen role if needed, as well.’ I feel pretty confident about doing that.”

“If they want me to do that and if called upon to do that, I think I can do it,” Montgomery said. “Obviously you want to be in the big leagues, and any way you can get there is what you want to do. So having the ability to start or relieve would be more valuable, and as a player, I want to make myself the most valuable that I can.”

Cash compared Montgomery to New York Yankees reliever Andrew Miller, who, like Montgomery, is a tall left-hander whose “leverage and that deception plays pretty well.” Cash thinks that adjustment can help a pitcher, citing Indian’s right-handed pitcher Carlos Carrasco, who put up a 2.30 ERA in 43 innings out of the ‘pen in 2014 before moving into the starting rotation and going 5-3 with a 1.30 ERA in a 10 game span.

Cash spoke about the difference in perspective between starting and relieving,

“You’ve got three outs or two innings to work with, and it shortens your thought process instead of thinking about getting to that sixth inning all the time. They end up being better pitchers in the long run.”

A grainy photo of Rays infield drills with Tim Beckham and Nick Franklin getting work in at short stop, and Asdrubal Cabrera and Logan Forsythe getting work in at second base. (Photo courtesy of Marc Topkin)

Despite the wet fields following a night of heavy rain, the Rays were back at things Sunday for the second full-squad workout, and the second day of live batting practice. Bulleted highlights from the seventh day of camp follow:

Before Chris Archer, Ernesto Frieri, Mike Montgomery and Jake Odorizzi threw live batting practice, manager Kevin Cash had the squad working on bunting as the primary fundamental of the day.

Per a tweet from Marc Topkin, Frieri splintered the bat of Tim Beckham on the very first pitch:

Cash plans to use LHP Mike Montgomery in a relief role this spring. Though the team was adamant they wouldn’t be calling upon another lefty to fill a spot in the bullpen left in Jake McGee’s wake (making Jeff Beliveau the only left handed reliever while the Rays closer mends), the use of Montgomery creates an interesting possibility at the start of the season.

Cash set the rotation for the first three exhibition games: RHP Nathan Karns starts Thursday vs. Baltimore, RHP Matt Andriese starts Friday vs. Minnesota, RHP Alex Cobb starts Saturday vs. Pittsburgh in Bradenton. The starters will work only one inning, two tops, the first time through.

A known known… Marc Topkin wrote about the open fifth starter spot,

Karns and Andriese are two of the candidates for the open spot in the rotation at the start of the season, along with RHP Alex Colome, who remains delayed by visa issues in the Dominican Republic. RHP Burch Smith is another possibility for that role.

Ernesto Frieri was having difficulty locating on both sides of the plate before Jim Hickey made an adjustment. (Photo and caption courtesy of Roger Mooney/Tampa Tribune)

Day five of Spring Training is in the books. Boog Powell arrived to camp Friday, so only RHP Alex Colome (delayed by visa) is missing ahead of Saturday’s whole team workout. Nothing truly newsworthy made the ranks of Twitter Friday afternoon, and what follows are a couple of loose ends that needed to be tied up.

I made mention previously that Rays pitching coach Jim Hickey is already helping new reliever Ernesto Frieri. Frieri saved 71 games in parts of three seasons with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, before his career spun off the tracks. The right handed reliever lost his job as the Angels’ closer, was traded to Pittsburgh in June of last season then released by the Pirates in August. As Roger Mooney (Tampa Tribune) wrote, the reason he was so eager to sign with the Rays in November was for the opportunity to work with Hickey.

“That’s why I’m here,” Frieri said. “I’ve seen Hickey, he’s the man. He knows what he’s doing. He fixed a couple of guys before, and I hope I’m not the exception. I’m pretty sure he’s going to give me the right information and I’m going to take advantage.”

Much like former closer Fernando Rodney, Frieri moved around the rubber in his first few bullpen sessions this week, in an attempt to regain control of his pitches on both sides of the plate. In the picture above, and video below, you can clearly see Frieri on the extreme first base side of the rubber:

If early indications mean anything, the footwork change has made an initial difference — Frieri was able to locate on both sides of the plate following Thursday’s bullpen session. The great unknown, however, is how this project will turn out over time, especially in comparison to the other pitchers Hickey fixed in the past — namely Joaquin Benoit, Rafael Soriano, and Rodney. The Rays pitching coach acknowledged as much,

“He seems to be extremely eager to hear what we have to say. You never know (how it will turn out), but at least it demonstrated his willingness to be open and try things.”

In other news, the Rays finally released former first round draft choice, and all around dick hole, Josh Sale.

Sale was suspended in three consecutive seasons for the use of amphetamines and all around asshole-like behavior, which came to light after he bragged about throwing change at a south Florida stripper, on Facebook. Deadspin published an article about the incident, titled, On Facebook, Rays Prospect Brags About Throwing Change At A Stripper.

Noteworthiness

As if you needed a reminder, the Rays first full-squad (sans Colome) workout will take place Saturday (today), starting at 9:30. The workout is open to the public, and free. The workout will include pop-up drills which, as Marc Topkin writes, “…Can be fun to watch, especially if it’s windy or overcast, but the highlight will be live batting practice.” Alex Cobb, Kevin Jepsen, Brad Boxberger, Matt Andriese, Nathan Karns and Burch Smith are among the pitchers scheduled to throw today.

Rays non-roster invitee Ronald Belisario was seen in the clubhouse this morning with his left arm in a sling. Belisario reportedly has a fractured left shoulder, and won’t do anything on the field for two weeks. The fracture occurred in an accident prior to the start of camp camp.

This is interesting; #Rays non-roster invitee RHP Ronald Belisario seen in clubhouse with his left arm in a sling

Joking, “I have no idea where to go,” said Kevin Cash while he lent a hand during first day as manager. (Photo and caption courtesy of Marc Topkin)

54 of the 63 players on the Rays spring roster reported to camp in Port Charlotte on this, the first official day of Spring Training. Of those players, all of the pitchers who were expected report did with the exceptions of Ronald Beliasario and Alex Colome, who were delayed by visa issues.

Marc Topkin reported in an entry for the Heater blog, that there has been a lot of talk in the clubhouse about the potential of the overall pitching staff, and how much of a chance that gives the Rays. You may recall, PECOTA projected the Rays to be one of the top teams in baseball as it relates to pitching. On that very subject, Chris Archer chimed in,

I’m biased but I think … in comparison nobody’s better than us. That’s our strength. There may be some other teams with one that’s better guy than one guy. But collectively I think we’re better than anybody in the league.

Monday morning’s meeting and workout was a chance to close the book on the Joe Maddon/Andrew Friedman era. One noticeable difference, Cash held the pre-workout meeting in the clubhouse rather than on the field in full fiew of fans and media. And while many will continue to compare and contrast the new regime o the one previous, the opportunity to put everything behind them was palpable with more than a few Rays.

The questions about Kevin Cash and the new outlook for our team are getting a little old because this happened like three months ago and it’s time to start the season, Chris Archer said. Everybody knows there’s question marks. I’m ready to stop talking about it and show people. I don’t mind the questions but I’m ready to show people.

Archer continued,

He’s in a Cubs uniform (Maddon), I’m not thinking about him anymore as far as like a manager. As a person, it would be cool to catch up with him if I get a chance. But I’m not thinking about anything in the past, I’m thinking about the present moment.

Cabrera said he’d be open to playing either second or short for the Rays, however he would prefer one spot rather than botching between both. “Cash said they will be flexible early in the spring as they have a number of guys to look at but would hope to make a decision sooner or later,” writes Marc Topkin.

Former closer Grant Balfour was the only pitcher who did not throw his scheduled bullpen session. Balfour reportedly feels fine, and the plan — counting back from opening day — is to limit him to 8-9 Spring Training games as a matter of conserving strength. While he may be a week behind the others, Balfour has been throwing regularly at the Trop.

Finally, Topkin offered a video report from Monday’s first official workout (produced by Will Vragovic).

Note: We’ll update this piece if anything else comes out of Port Charlotte.

Noteworthiness

Early this morning, Boston landed international infield prospect Yoan Moncada, signing the Cuban born ball player to a record $31.5M bonus, on which the Red Sox will pay a 100% penalty. That bonus does not include the salary to be made by Moncada. Rays LHP Drew Smyly took exception with that amount of money being thrown at a Top-10 in MLB prospect, tweeting,

It’s not right that a Cuban 19yr old gets paid 30m and the best 19yr old in the entire USA gets prob 1/6th of … http://t.co/7aAZCwgm2t

Thanks to a handful of tweets from Rays beat writer Marc Topkin, word broke that more than a dozen players made the early trek to Port Charlotte, ahead of the official start of Spring Training, Monday. Among the players getting in some early work are pitchers Jake McGee, Matt Moore, Jeff Beliveau, CJ Riefenhauser, Nate Karns, Kirby Yates, Matt Andriese and Mike Montgomery, as well as Rene Rivera, John Jaso, Curt Casali, Brandon Guyer, David DeJesus and Tim Beckham.

Don’t forget to head to the Trop this Saturday for Fan Fest — a celebration of all things Tampa Bay Rays. Before you ask, parking an admission are free. Like I mentioned yesterday, X-Rays Spex will be there in full force. We’d love to meet up, and spend time with you! Get in touch with us in some capacity (the comments section, email, Facebook, Tumblr, or Twitter) and let us know when you’ll be arriving.

We’re excited too, Drew!

Another offseason in the books. ✈️ to ☀️. Really excited to start my first full season with the #Rays. I think we can surprise a lot of ppl!